Night Vision: A Jane Lawless Mystery

Let me preface this short review by saying that I own all of Ellen Hart's books. I have a great fondness for Jane Lawless and friends and Sophie Greenway and friends. When I read one of Ellen's books, it's like a return to my hometown where I get to catch up with some of my favorite people. "Night Vision" demonstrates that Ellen's story-telling is only getting better with each book. There is an element of tension in this tale that makes it hard to put down. There are three or four story lines that are skillfully juggled and a surprise or two that ... well .. came as a surprise. Usually, I've got things figured out, but not this time. I can't wait for December to get here, so I can purchase her newest work.

Jane Lawless' life is going well. She has a girlfriend, her dog Mouse and a new club that is going great. Her best friend Cordelia Thorn has settled into being `Mom' for her niece Hattie and now a long-time friend of Cordelia's is coming to town...to star in a play at the theatre where Cordelia works. Joanna Kasimir is famous, talented and troubled. Just as it seems she may be recovering from a traumatic experience in her past, Joanna learns that the person who caused this trouble is back. Back and hell bent on taking up where they left off. Why? Are they doing it for kicks? Or do they feel that Joanna `owes' them something and they want to collect? Along with Joanna's arrival in town, Jane gets her own visitor, one she didn't know was coming...Joanna's brother David. David is a guy Jane knew in college and a person she holds dear to her heart. Trouble seems to run in David and Joanna's family however. David is running from something and comes to the one person he knows can help...Jane. Why didn't he run to his sister? Who is he running from? Just as they think they have the answers, someone changes the questions when a man is found murdered. Who did it? The number one suspect is Joanna's brother David. Even though Jane knows he couldn't have done it, there are several things about David's behavior that even she can't explain. Then, to complicate things even further, Cordelia's sister, Octavia, Hattie's mother, reenters the picture stirring other things up. After so long, why is she in town now? Cordelia's very much interested in that answer herself. It's now a three-way race for Jane and Cordelia - can they solve the mystery about David, discover why Octavia is really back and keep themselves from being the killer's next victims? Ellen Hart is one of the truly great fiction writers. From her first book in the Jane Lawless series, Hallowed Murder, all the way through to the current one, readers are locked into a dynamic, suspense-filled journey as our heroines' work to discover clues to mysteries, escape from killers and find love.

It took me a while to discover Ellen Hart's award winning Jane Lawless mystery series. The Iron Girl had just released and I grabbed it up because of the great reviews it had garnered. While it was the 13th in the series, it was the first that I read, and I was hooked. I devoured every one in the series after that over a four month period. Then I anxiously anticipated Night Vision, the next in the series, and the wait was well worth it. This tightly written page turner was so enjoyable that it can be reread many times over. Hart sets up the intrigue from the first pages. Actress Joanna Kasimir's stalker is back after a 10 year absence and jail term. He has raised the stakes this time and is more terrifying. At the same time Joanna's brother, David, an old high school chum of restaurateur Jane Lawless', goes missing for a month. We are led to believe that his disappearance may be related to his sister's stalker, but while Joanna is in Minneapolis starring in a theater production, David shows up unexpectedly. Both are seeking refuge but for different reasons. Hart though does not give away any details too early, and we must read on to uncover the mysteries. Private Investigator AJ Nolan is hired by Joanna. He makes Jane an offer she can't refuse, and she is on the case, trying to get to the bottom of the puzzling clues. Night Vision floats effortlessly back and forth between the present day action and the stalking history between Joanna and Gordon Luberman, an ex-boyfriend. What Luberman is capable of has a chilling effect on the overall story. Hart's description of their disturbing history generates an element of dread and moves the plot along at a fast clip. All is not foreboding though in a Jane Lawless mystery. Hart balances the story by peppering it with subtle Midwest humor. The continuity of characters in the series gives the reader a sense that we are visiting old friends. Her storytelling is clever, but not simple. She does not confuse the reader and leads us straight down the path to the logical conclusion, if we pay attention. Night Vision was a fun Sunday afternoon read, but don't wait until Sunday for this entertaining story. I highly recommend any Jane Lawless mystery especially the latest, Night Vision.

This continuing line of interesting and thoughtful mystery novels is extended yet again by this author. Author Hart has been writing a long time and she knows the game well. Unlike many genre authors, she shows no evidence here of tiring of either the mystery culture or her principal characters, Jane Lawless and Cordelia Thorn. The relationship between these two women, long time friends, is unusual in that they are quite different. Lawless is bright, quiet, introspective, protective of her personal space and many of her beliefs. One could be in a room for a good while with several people and not even be aware that she was present. Her good friend, Cordelia Thorn is another matter. Thorn is mostly over the top and that's where she lives. Loud, flamboyant, caustic and sometimes thoughtless, she dresses with flair and you'd know when she entered a room, even with fifty people already present. Thorn plays an important part in the novels as a sounding board for Lawless as she puzzles out the mystery, but sometimes you want to throttle her. As is the case with all Hart's books, characters and their relationships, kind, warm, angry, distorted and dangerous, are at the heart of this novel. They drive the characters to and fro with passion, with cold calculation, sometimes to disastrous ends. This novel is darker, more convoluted and more complicated than Hart's earlier books. The back story alone could be an entire novel, yet such is Hart's skill as a writer, the back story of celebrity stalking is the trunk that supports the rest of the novel. The novel is not without its problems. I wanted more examination of parasomnia and its effects on one of the characters, and I was troubled by a few of Cordelia's more caustic quips. Still, as with all her later novels, readers will be drawn to the characters and will live out this story with them. The swirling tensions and suspicious motivations of these well-drawn characters are compelling. This is a strong, novel, with a logical and complete resolution that will keep readers going and waiting eagerly for Jane's next adventure. I remind readers of this review that the author is a friend of mine and we frequently tour together. Nonetheless, when you read Night Vision, I'm confident that you'll agree with my assessment.

Academy Award and Global Award winning actress Joanna Kasimir fled Hollywood for the safety of the remote Idaho Panhandle to escape the stalking of her former husband Gordon, who served time for his persecuting her Now several years later she is flying to her hometown Minneapolis to perform of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Allen Grimby Repertory Theatre in St. Paul at the request of her close friend Cordelia Thorn, but fears that Gordon is back with a vengeance. Joanna asks another friend restaurateur Jane Lawless to trail Gordon, which she agrees to do so. Jane's friend, Joanna's brother David Carson is hiding something from her, his sister, and his lover Diego Veras that worries the trio as that is out of character for him especially when Gordon is found dead with David appearing as the prime suspect. Jane investigates while the cops concentrate on pinning the homicide on the ex brother-in-law. This is a fine Twin Cities amateur sleuth tale in which the stalking and subsequent murder investigation takes center stage. The fast-paced story line is cleverly devised so that readers will consider either David or a crazed fan committed the homicide. Though long time fans will be heart-broken that Jane's long-distance lover Kenzie makes almost no appearances, NIGHT VISION is an entertaining whodunit. Harriet Klausner